From: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org (shindell-list-digest) To: shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Subject: shindell-list-digest V4 #258 Reply-To: shindell-list@smoe.org Sender: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk shindell-list-digest Tuesday, September 3 2002 Volume 04 : Number 258 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [RS] Christian background ["Susan Krauss" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 2 Sep 2002 23:17:42 -0700 From: "Susan Krauss" Subject: [RS] Christian background My problem is that I don't know enough about Jesus and Christianity to understand all of Richard's songs. When I first heard "Love Before You Go" it made absolutely no sense to me. I thought it was a love song but the sequence and language just wasn't logical. I couldn't figure it out until I asked here and someone explained how it was about Jesus and explained the whole thing to me. I think that those of you who are raised Christian, even if you don't believe now or don't attend Church now, have a language and background which is similar to Richard's so the Christian allusions at least make sense to you. Since I've never actually read the New Testament, I miss a lot. I've mentioned before (though I don't know if I've done it here), that David Wilcox's music was ruined for me during a concert he gave in San Francisco in about 1996. I'd been listening to him from the beginning and had seen him live before. During this show, it became evident from the introductions and stories between songs that all the songs I heard as love songs between two people were really songs about loving Jesus. I couldn't hear those songs in the same way I had - I kept hearing David's intent. It's fine for David to love Jesus but I'm still mad at him for introducing the songs in a way that made it impossible for me to keep my interpretations. And since Jesus plays no part in my life, a love song for Jesus just doesn't hold my interest. I can enjoy "Mary Magdalene" and I can even enjoy a lot of Gospel. Songs about history or re-interpretation of a Biblical story are fine. Songs about the joy people find in their beliefs (like much of Gospel) are great. Songs which try to tell me that I have to believe what the songwriter believes turn me off completely. L'Shanah Tovah, susan ------------------------------ End of shindell-list-digest V4 #258 ***********************************